USask Convocation: From quitting high school to completing PhD
College of Nursing Knowledge Keeper and Indigenous Student Advisor Dr. Kathleen McMullin (PhD) completes doctorate program.
The University of Saskatchewan (USask) is somewhere Dr. Kathleen McMullin (BEd’88, MEd’95, PhD’24) feels right at home.
Not only is she the USask College of Nursing Knowledge Keeper and Indigenous Student Advisor, but a proud alumna.
After beginning her PhD program through the Department of Health Sciences with the College of Medicine in 2014, it wasn’t a straight path to completing her Doctor of Philosophy. Fast forward 10 years later and on June 12, 2024, McMullin successfully defended her PhD dissertation titled, Kewetan: Walking in the Ancestral Footsteps of Our Woodland Cree Grandparents. She will walk proudly across the USask Convocation stage on November 13.
“I was denied the opportunity to finish high school when I was only 14 years old, so I could go to work to support my family,” McMullin said. “This decision hurt me deeply, as I loved school. Eventually, when I was 28 and had two young sons, I decided to return to school to pursue a degree in teaching.”
McMullin completed her Bachelor of Education degree at USask in 1988.
“I loved university so much and discovered I was a good writer, so I knew I was capable of going to graduate school and eventually, I enrolled in my master’s program.”
In 1995, McMullin completed her Master of Education (MEd) at USask. Ten years later, she was doing community-based health research with the Department of Community Health and Epidemiology and the Canadian Centre for Rural and Agriculture Health.
“I really enjoyed working on the research projects and it inspired me to want to further my education even more,” she said. “The research was being conducted in Indigenous communities. I am a Cree/Scottish woman and a member of the Lac La Ronge Indian Band. My cultural affiliation with the Indigenous communities inspired me to pursue my PhD, so I could further serve Indigenous Peoples in some capacity. I was also influenced by the university research teams in how they worked in the spirit of reconciliation with Indigenous communities to promote health and well-being.”
When making the decision to return to university for a third time, McMullin knew she would be returning to USask.
“I chose the University of Saskatchewan for my PhD program because it feels like home, after successfully completing two degrees at this institution. I was inspired by the professors I worked with on various health-related projects and was motivated to pursue advanced studies, so I could continue working with them in some capacity. The University of Saskatchewan is also such a beautiful campus, in both Saskatoon and Prince Albert, and I feel proud when I stand on its grounds.”
McMullin plans to use her PhD in her current position at USask Nursing to be a resource for College of Nursing students writing papers on wholistic health in Indigenous communities.
“During my doctoral research, I interviewed 13 Elders and Knowledge Keepers of the Lac La Ronge Indian Band regarding the values and customs of their families,” said McMullin. “In essence, their stories were a portrayal of wholistic health, and this helped me understand how they became Elders and Knowledge Keepers of their communities. This knowledge will help me as the Knowledge Keeper at the College of Nursing.”
What’s next for McMullin?
“I feel content now that I have achieved an education level that seemed impossible as a young woman,” she said. “I am now in the ideal position to support students, who may have also been disadvantaged for various reasons, in achieving their academic goals.”
“My PhD was not only an academic pursuit in higher education, but more importantly, a ceremony in research. Over the years, I was in a state of prayer as I navigated the Western and Indigenous Knowledge systems of research. I am forever grateful to the teachers who guided me through this ceremony (special thanks to Michael Relland, Pipe Carrier, and Dr. Sylvia Abonyi (PhD)) and the loving support of my family; Brooks McMullin, Matthew, Martin and Logan Nelson, and Andrea Still.”
“My dissertation committee has encouraged me to write a book based on my thesis and I hope to serve my community in developing curriculum materials,” she added. “I want my research to be used to draw on positive experiences of being an Indigenous person in Canada.”
"Kewetan, in the Woodland Cree language, means ‘let’s go home.’ Home is where the values and customs are nurtured and passed on intergenerationally. One of the many values is wholistic health and well-being and I wanted to convey the message that despite what the statistics show about the economic, social, political, and health disparities of Indigenous Peoples in Canada, we are a strong, resilient, successful, and happy group of people as portrayed in the stories of 13 Elders and Knowledge Keepers of the Lac La Ronge Indian Band. The significance of this research was to celebrate Elders’ recollections of the values and survival strategies, which sustained them during a time of technological and social change during the mid-20th century. In using an Indigenous storytelling methodology, I learned the Tipi Teachings of the Plains Cree could be used as a framework by which to analyze the themes of the Woodland Cree. I also learned the Woodland Cree Medicine Wheel was a useful framework to analyze the trapline way of life of these 13 members of the Lac La Ronge Indian Band. In going home in their memories to a time they enjoyed wholistic health, the Elders are now revitalizing Traditional Knowledge and lifeways at culture camps and school gatherings. Thus, when one reads the dissertation, one is going back home to a Woodland Cree lifestyle guided by the footsteps of the ancestors.”